Multi-station document inserting systems generally include a plurality of various stations that are configured for specific applications. Typically, such inserting systems, also known as console inserting machines, are manufactured to perform operations customized for a particular customer. Such machines are known in the art and are generally used by organizations which produce a large volume of mailings where the content of each mail piece may vary.
For instance, inserter systems are used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mailings where the contents of each mail item are directed to a particular addressee. Additionally, other organizations, such as direct mailers, use inserts for producing a large volume of generic mailings where the contents of each mail item are substantially identical for each addressee. Examples of such inserter systems are the 8 series and 9 series inserter systems available from Pitney Bowes, Inc., Stamford, Conn.
In many respects the typical inserter system resembles a manufacturing assembly line. Sheets and other raw materials (other sheets, enclosures, envelopes) enter the inserter system as inputs. Then, a plurality of different modules or workstations in the inserter system work cooperatively to process the sheets until a finished mailpiece is produced. The exact configuration of each inserter system depends upon the needs of each particular customer or installation. For example, a typical inserter system includes a plurality of serially arranged stations including an envelope feeder, an insert station, a plurality of insert feeder stations and a burster-folder station. There is a computer generated form or web feeder that feeds continuous form control documents having control coded marks printed thereon to the burster-folder station for separating and folding. The control marks on the control documents are sensed by a control scanner located in the burster-folder station. Thereafter, the serially arranged insert feeder stations sequentially feed the necessary documents onto a transport deck at each station as the control document arrives at the respective station to form a precisely collated stack of documents which is transported to the envelope feeder-insert station where the stack is inserted into the envelope. The transport deck preferably includes a ramp feed so that the control documents always remain on top of the stack of advancing documents. A typical modern inserter system also includes
a control system to synchronize the operation of the overall inserter system to ensure that the collations are properly assembled.
Devices are known which turn collation of sheets within a plane. These devices are often utilized in inserter systems to change the orientation of the sheets (for example, landscape to portrait and vice versa) so as to facilitate further downstream processing. Another application for turning devices is in merging sheets from a first stream of sheets into a second stream of sheets. Examples of turning devices utilized in inserter systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,909,374; 5,180,154; 5,180,159; 5,188,355; and 5,413,326; all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Such devices are commonly referred to as a transfer module.
A typical transfer module receives a sheet or sheets from an input machine disposed in a lateral direction, stops its movement, and then feeds it out in the longitudinal direction of the mainstream feed path. Thus, the transfer module changes the orientation of each sheet from a landscape to portrait orientation, or vice versa. Specific application of transfer modules is that they may be adapted to receive an accumulation of sheets from an upstream module along a lateral direction and then advance the accumulation of sheets along a longitudinal direction in the mainstream feed path. Additionally, transfer modules can be adapted to perform the sheet accumulation in the transfer module itself. Regardless of whether the sheet accumulation is performed in the transfer module or in an upstream accumulation module thereof, occasionally, the accumulation of sheets will be incorrect, as detected by the control system. In the event there is an incorrect accumulation, conveyance of this accumulation may have deleterious effects in the inserter modules disposed along the mainstream path located downstream of the transfer module.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer module that is adapted to dispose an incorrect accumulation of sheets into an out-sort station for disposal thereof.